


Game Night

by mercurialkitty



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angel Castiel (Supernatural), Emotional Baggage, Father-Son Relationship, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff and Angst, Heaven retirement, Hopeful Ending, It's All Chuck's Fault (Supernatural), It's All John Winchester's Fault, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Mary worries how her earthly death affected Dean, Mother-Son Relationship, the f-bomb is used
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:20:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29477604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercurialkitty/pseuds/mercurialkitty
Summary: Dean and Cas anticipate a fluffy morning in Heaven, preparing for a big Game Night with friends. Unfortunately, having a Game Night for friends in Heaven proves more disruptive than anticipated. Mary worries how her earthly death affected Dean and his relationship with Jack.This Heaven is the opportunity to be with the people you love, and take eternity to make amends and heal relationships. Therefore there is some painful emotional growth along the way.In other words, this is something of a finale fix-it, but there is angst dealing with the emotional consequences of episode 14.17 Game Night.Jack and John Winchester are not present, but they are a large part of the serious emotional conversation. Others are mentioned more lightly.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 10
Kudos: 33





	Game Night

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for cajunquandry on Tumblr as part of her cajunsuper600challenge. The prompt was "game night" which I picked with full intention of making a fluffy fic. I looked at the summaries and pictures from Supernatural episode 14.17 Game Night, purely with the idea of seeing what games they were playing. I realized that there was a lot of emotional baggage in this episode that never got dealt with, and here we are.
> 
> If you hate a finale fix-it that leaves the characters in heaven, this is not for you.  
> If you hate a finale fix-it that leaves Cas an angel, this is not for you.
> 
> I fully intend to write a fix-it some day that has them happy humans retired on Earth, but this is not that fic. Again, this Heaven is the opportunity to be with the people you love, and take eternity to make amends and heal relationships. Therefore there is some painful emotional growth along the way.
> 
> Will be publishing as a Tumblr post same day as this posting.

They don’t exactly sleep in heaven. It’s more like closing your eyes, letting it be dark, and feeling time swirl around you. Not sleep exactly, but refreshing to the soul, and a good excuse for stretching in bed and enjoying the sensation of a new day. Dean rolls over and feels Cas’ wings blanket him a little tighter.

“Your wings are nice, Cas.”

“You say that almost every morning.”

“When don’t I say it?”

Cas gives him a smile and raises an eyebrow. “When you do something other than talk first.”

Dean smiles back and is about to pull Cas in for a kiss when Miracle starts barking. They both sit up. Then there’s a knock at the door.

“That’s unusual,” says Cas and he stands and does the thing where he’s automatically dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, with his wings unseen.

Dean groans, “That has to be Sammy. No one else would cock block me in heaven.”

Cas goes to get the door. Dean grabs clothes, but doesn’t rush to throw them on. He figures that whoever is out there can wait. It’s heaven dammit. He hears Cas say, “Hello Mary,” and pauses. No other hello is forthcoming from Cas, so he finishes getting ready.

When he joins them, he sees Mary on the couch with Miracle in her lap and Cas in the kitchen getting a pot of coffee going. He goes to sit next to her and give Miracle a pat. “Hey mom. I know we’re all still getting used to time in Heaven, but aren’t you here a bit early for our Game Night?”

Mary smiles, “I thought we might need to talk before.”

Dean gets a strange feeling of dread that he didn’t think would happen in heaven. “Sounds like we’ll need breakfast then.”

Mary relocates to the barstools, with Miracle getting underfoot in the kitchen while Cas grates cheese and potatoes, and Dean gets the griddle ready. Zeppelin plays softly, and Mary pours out coffee. Once Dean has the hash browns about to come off, and the eggs on, he asks, “So how’s Dad?”Cas tenses slightly, but doesn’t say anything.

Mary stirs her coffee a little longer than necessary and answers. “John’s with Bobby, Rufus, and Bill Harvelle on a fishing trip.”

“Sounds fun,” says Dean mildly.

Mary shrugs indicting that it might not be all that fun. “It’s good to see him work on relationships. It’s been a very long time. He’s got a lot of people to try to make up with.”

Dean nods. Since he’s had time and freedom from Chuck’s influence to think over the past, he’s not open to any visits from Dad. Cas asks about Ellen and Jo. Mary goes along with the conversation change, so that means John was not intended to be the main topic. Dean finishes up the eggs and plates the food, a little less on edge, but still wary.

They all shift to the kitchen table. During breakfast they chit chat over what gets called Heaven Gossip, but is really just gossip. Dean smiles over what Cas omits as much as what he shares. It takes away a bit more of his uneasiness. Cas and Mary can really go to town on gossip, and it’s hilarious.

The funniest bits are usually people running into doppelgänger’s.Jimmy has taken to wearing a NOT CAS t-shirt when he runs in shared heavenly spaces. Huntercorp Dean is making his safe, sane, and consensual way through heaven’s non-soulmated population. The Bobbies aren’t close, but the Charlies consider themselves siblings, and both are coming tonight.

Cas is most knowledgeable on angel gossip. Given the civil wars and multiple factions, only a dozen or so of the angels back from The Empty are restored to full powers and freedom in Heaven. All angels have their wings back, but most are limited to shared areas of heaven and the throne room during their Growing Period, as Jack calls it. Humans have plenty of other names for it, including: Being Grounded, Clipped Wings, Angel Probation, and Angel Quarantine. Most of the restored angels make regular but brief visits to their house to see Cas. Samandriel is one of Dean’s favorites; although, he’ll never admit it and refuses to call him anything but Alfie.

Dean thinks it’s nice to be in the know before everyone comes to the house tonight, and he hears the stories getting repeated. Well, not everyone. It won’t be the enormous circus that came to their wedding, but it will be a big group of friends. Dean can’t help a big smile at the memory, and gets called out immediately.

“What’s that smile, Dean?” asks Mary.

“Guess,”says Dean with a look at Cas.

Cas starts blushing, and Dean nudges him. “Hey, it’s a perfectly G-rated memory.”

Mary smiles and says, “If it’s G-rated, it’s probably your wedding. Well, G-rated up to the reception. Maybe up to the kiss.”

Dean sloshes his coffee and Cas mojos a clean-up. “How’d you guess, Mom?”

“Cas and I have been talking about a lot of people and angels, and the last time they were all together was your wedding.”

“That was the first time many of the people we care about met each other,” comments Cas.

“Yeah, that was really something,” Dean says and nudges Cas’ ankle with his foot. Cas gives him an enormous smile back.

“Well, since you’re in a good mood, now is either a really good time, or really bad time for a serious talk with my son.”

Dean lets out a sigh. Cas gives him a kiss on the cheek. “Talk to your Mom. I’ll check on the bees and the garden. Yell, or send Miracle out to get me when you’re done.” He looks at Dean and then gives him a soft kiss on the lips. He turns to Mary and says, “See you later,” before flapping outside.

Dean and Mary head back to the sofa. This time Miracle must sense something because he’s in Dean’s lap and being particularly distracting. Dean plants a kiss on his dog’s head, and says, “Hey, settle down.”

Mary comes to it. “You know, we were going to have a Game Night with Jack and we got interrupted by that call from Donetello. It was after that things went bad — when Jack killed me.”

“I hadn’t thought about it as being part of a Game Night.”

“That’s what I was afraid of.”

“Mom…are you ok?”

“Not exactly, but it’s not just me. I was worried about you. Time is different here, there are no anniversary dates unless you choose them to be. That sounds good, but the problem is that you don’t know when something is going to hit you bad.”

“It’s heaven. It can’t hit _that_ bad.” Miracle is a little anxious and restless, so Dean moves him off his lap.

“Dean, when people lived in their memories — when I lived in my happiest memories here in heaven, I didn’t have to deal with regret. I had you and baby Sammy and the John I first met, and that was the ideal heaven. Now the ideal for heaven is time. Eternity to be around your loved ones, know they’re safe, and make things right. I should know that’s not always an easy process.” She gives a sad wry smile, “That’s why your dad is here, right? ”

“I just know that I thank Jack he _is_ here. Look, I don’t care if Jack freezes Hell over and turns it into a ski resort with lines to get in — the idea of any of our family being in Hell is not something I can handle. It doesn’t mean that I want to have another happy family dinner yet, but I’ve made a home with Cas, my friends are close by, and no one is suffering.” Dean thinks about his father and grandfather Samuel and wonders when he’ll be ready. “Mom, things are good with you and me. I learned my lesson. Amara tried to tell me that I needed to get to know you as a person, and not as a saint on a pedestal, or an apple pie image. I shouldn’t have done that to you. It took me a long time to figure it out.”

“Oh Dean, you went through too much, but I still have some things I still want to try to make right.”

“We’ve had this conversation before.”

“You forgave me for other things. Not for the pain you went through when I died again, and the damage to your relationship with Jack.”

“Dying wasn’t your fault whether it was in Lawrence or years later.”

Mary sighs. “Forgiving isn’t just about fault. It wasn’t my fault that Jack killed me, but I took a chance that maybe I shouldn’t have.”

Deans eyes narrow. “You want to explain that?”

“When he stopped Nick from calling Lucifer, he didn’t just immobilize him or kill him quickly. He put Nick through pain, torture. I saw him do it. If it had been me, I admit I’d have been glad I killed him. But the pain wasn’t right — I knew who Jack was. I was with him in the Apocalypse world. I’d seen him kill to protect whole settlements and you hadn’t. I saw him when he was grim and determined. He was sometimes stubborn and too quick to make decisions, but killing Nick was different. Jack never desired to cause pain. I knew it was wrong for him.” Mary pauses and sets her mug on the coffee table. “I called Jack out on it, and he wanted me to say that it was ok. Frankly, I could have just lied. I’m a hunter. I know strategy. I could have told Jack that it was ok. We’d have all gone back to the bunker, and then I could have told you, Sam and Cas together in secret. Waiting for Castiel to get back would have made the most sense. We would have faced his soullessness together.”

Dean stands up and folds his arms across his chest. “So you’re just telling me this now?”

“I thought I could fix it. I thought that if I pushed him — me — the one who’d seen him be a leader and protect whole encampments, he’d realize something was wrong.”

“How is someone without a soul or even with a damaged soul going to _feel_ that their soul should be fixed? Do you understand how illogical that is… was?”

“Now I do. I didn’t then. Dean, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the grief and anger that you felt.”

“You don’t need to apologize. We’ll never know how much of every decision was us, and how much was Chuck warping things. It was always to his benefit for me to blame Jack. At first, I treated the poor kid so bad because I blamed him for Cas being dead. When Cas came back from the Empty the first time, I saw how much he loved Jack, and I let myself care for him. I stopped seeing Lucifer when I looked at him. The kid always looked just like Cas and I couldn’t see it until Cas was standing next to him. Then when Jack killed you that went out the window.” Dean pauses to pace around. Mary remains silent watching and waiting. After a minute, Dean turns and looks at Mary. He swallows, and starts again.

“Finally, when we understood about Chuck, and Cas brought Jack back to the Bunker with Billie’s plan, I cared again, but then Jack was supposed to be a tool to kill Chuck, and I fucking did it again. I pushed him away.It’s not just about you — it’s about me, too. And now crazy as it seems, that sweet kid isn’t a kid anymore. He’s God.” The both look down for a minute. Dean finally says, “Have you talked to Jack about this?”

“Yes. I mean he already knows what’s in your heart when you see him, but sometimes a person has say the words anyway. Cas is next on my list. I thought I should talk to you first. He’d expect me to,” Mary says with a wry smile.

Dean shakes his head with watery eyes. Cas is going to feel all the emotions stirring in Dean through their bond. He’ll probably be pissed off that his husband isn’t happy in heaven, so he doesn’t envy Mary, but Cas is always forgiving and able to see the pain that others still carry, even in Heaven. Dean thinks that Cas will probably be better at helping Mary than he is.

“So this trauma anniversary thing… Our plan for a big heaven Game Night brought it all back to you, huh? That’s why you’re here. We did it.” Mary just shrugs.

“Since you were the one who got killed, maybe I should cut you some slack and we should talk about how you’re feeling?”

“Maybe. I don’t really know anymore. I’m not good at this.”

“But you have eternity — we have eternity.”

“So I hear. Or something close enough.”

Dean groans, and with tears spilling over says, “Get over here, Mom.”

She gets up and they hold each other for a while.


End file.
